Srinagar: The weather office on Friday said that heavy to very heavy snowfall will occur in the Kashmir Valley starting from Saturday.
Sonum Lotus, Director of the regional MET Office, said the snowfall will gradually become heavier and stronger in intensity till January 23.
Divisional administration have warned people not to move around in avalanche prone areas, store enough edibles and other essentials as both surface and air connectivity is likely to remain disrupted during this period.
Srinagar recorded minus 0.7 degrees Celsius, Pahalgam minus 10.3 and Gulmarg minus 10.0 as the minimum temperatures on Friday.
Leh and Kargil towns recorded minus 15.6 and minus 19.2 degrees Celsius.
Jammu city had 5.3 degrees Celsius, Katra 6.3, Batote 2.5, Bannihal 0.7 and Bhaderwah minus 0.8 as the night’s lowest temperatures.
Ten people were trapped under snow after an avalanche hit Leh district of Ladakh on Friday, police sources said.
Those trapped were travelling in a truck in Khardung La Pass. “Rescue teams of police, Border Roads Organisation and Jammu and Kashmir Disaster Management Force have reached the spot,” the sources said.
A high alert for avalanche was sounded on Thursday by the administration following adverse weather advisory by the Met department.
Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh will receive widespread snowfall and rain between January 20 and 24, the weather office here warned on Friday.
Residents and tourists have been advised not to venture
out on the high hills till January 24 as chances of snapping of road links were high.
Shimla, Narkanda, Chail, Kufri, Kalpa, Dalhousie and Manali were likely to receive moderate spells of snowfall, Met Director Manmohan Singh said. These towns had witnessed moderate spells of snowfall on January 13.
Kufri, Narkanda, Manali and Dalhousie were already covered in a thick blanket of snow. The supply of essential commodities and transportation of people may get hampered in remote areas of the state, a government official said.
The western disturbances — storm systems originating from Caspian Sea and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region — were likely to be active in the region from Friday evening, Singh added.
“The impact of the western disturbances will be largely seen in the state from January 22 to 24 with possibility of heavy snowfall in the high hills of Shimla, Kinnaur, Sirmaur, Kullu, Chamba, Mandi and Lahaul-Spiti districts,” he added.
There would also be high moisture fed from the Arabian Sea over northwest India, especially the western Himalayan region, from January 20, enabling chances of widespread snow and rain, the Met said.
On the lower altitude, Dharamsala, Palampur, Solan, Nahan, Bilaspur, Una, Hamirpur and Mandi towns were likely to see widespread rain that would bring down the temperatures considerably.
Shimla on Friday recorded a minimum temperature of 4.2 degrees Celsius, while it was minus 3.6 degrees in Kalpa, minus 1.2 degrees in Manali, 4 degrees in Dalhousie, 2 degrees in Kufri and 4.2 degrees in Dharamsala.
— IANS
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